Management Tips for the Paperless Office

At Pride Institute we teach that there are four parts of every system. In order to achieve full integration, you must fully implement each part.

1. Purpose / Vision (the big picture)
2. Mechanics (how we will do this)
3. Verbals (how we will communicate with one another and our patients)
4. Follow up/through (the consistent daily actions and agreements that hold us accountable and let us know when we’ve succeeded.)

1. Developing a Purpose or Vision

The purpose for making any change should be persuasive and powerful. It has to be bigger than simply saying that being paperless “will make us more efficient.” You need to appeal to the hearts and minds of the people who will implement and experience the change.

2. Mechanics

The second part of a system is mechanics. The vision provides the why; mechanics puts the spotlight on strategy. Mechanics include the decisions and actions that must be addressed for successful implementation.

3. Verbals

The third component of a system focuses on the communication skills that will support the change. Before you go paperless, you need to consider how the new technology will change the way you communicate with the team, how the team communicates with one another and how the team communicates with patients.

4. Follow-up / Follow-through

The final part of the system is the one that most dental practices pay the least attention to with the result that many a great idea dies a death of slow attrition. If you are going to invest considerable time and money in installing technology and training your team, then you need to invest an equal amount of energy making sure that you and your team are utilizing the technology correctly and to its fullest extent. One of the most effective ways to insure that the new systems are operating correctly without glitches is by holding daily and weekly meetings.

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